Discussion

Mascarpone substitute?

Is there a healthier alternative to mascarpone? Giada has a fantastic recipe for Chicken with Mustard Mascarpone Marsala Sauce (can't rave about it enough!) but due to the mascarpone the fat/calorie content is over the top, something like 120 calories per tablespoon and 13.5 grams of fat. I get chest pains just reading the recipe.

I'd like to make this great recipe again; is there a substitute that will lend a similar taste/texture to the dish and that won't shorten the lifespan of my guests?

you could use low fat sour cream or yogurt and get the same results. i just checked out her recipe and a cup of mascarpone is a LOT! i'm not sure what the thickness of the final dish is supposed to be, but any of those white liquids (sour cream, yogurt, heavy cream ) would most likely work.

or you could experiment to see how little mascarpone you can get away with using without compromising the dish.

Exactly, chowser. Mascarpone is an Italian cream cheese. If I were to tell you my last name, you'd know I know of what I speak......tee hee. I often make lasagna with low fat cream cheese, as mascarpone is sometimes difficult to find out here in the *sticks*.

You can definitely get by with low fat cream cheese in that recipe. It should maintain a similar consistency,and the subtle flavors of the mascarpone are likely to get a bit muddled anyhow. You might be well off to whip the cream cheese beforehand, though, else it may seem a little gritty.

Wiki says that "Mascarpone is a triple-cream cheese made from crème fraîche by denaturing with rennet", so it would appear that mascarpone and crème fraîche would have the same fat content. I could be wrong of course.

Recipezaar has some recipes for a substitute but i was looking for an already made substitute.